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Dhamma Talk
Dhamma Talk
Sunday, August 22, 2004

Kamma and Merits
By Venerable Aggacitta
Venue: Taiping Hokkien Association
Today we had an excellent opportunity to collect
pindapata and I am also happy to be able to deliver
this Dhamma talk at the Hokkien Association of
Taiping. For Buddhists, it is normal practice to chant
the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts before giving
alms food. The reason for this is that we believe in the
concept of merits and merits-making.
There are varying degrees of merits which can be obtained, depending on the type
of dana one has performed. It is a fact that merits are obtained irrespective of
whether a person gives dana to an animal, a beggar, a bogus monk or a practising
monk who is pure in his precepts. However, the merits obtained varies in each of
the above situations. Furthermore, if a person takes the Three Refuges and
observes the Five Precepts before performing the dana, the merits obtained is
enhanced especially if the person keeps the precepts diligently. So, the purity of
mind and conduct of both the donor and the recipient of a particular dana
determine the value of the merits accrued.
A devotee once asked the Buddha whether it is true that one will only obtain merit
if he gives dana to the Bud-dha and his retinue of monks as opposed to giving to
those of other religions. The Buddha replied that this was not true and merits are
always obtained whenever a person does a good deed. For example, when a
person dis-cards food remnants from his plate into the river with the thought that
the remnants may provide food for the fishes in the water, he also gains merits.
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Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary... Groundwork for a Malaysian Therava... http://sasanarakkha.org/dhamma/2004/08/kamma-and-merits.shtml
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The Buddha also mentioned that there are many different degrees of merits. He
told the story of Anathapin-dika, a great philanthropist, who gave to all and sundry
that needed his help. On one occasion, Anathapindika lamented that the food he
had donated on that day was of poor quality ( rice cooked by boiling broken grains
and a dish of fermented paste). However, the Buddha said that the value of the
food given is not as important as the virtue of the donor. If one gives with
faith and respect, does not ridicule or harm the recipient and is full of generosity,
the dana is well performed.
The Buddha then gave the example of Velama, an exceedingly wealthy Brahmin,
who performed dana of an astoundingly rich value. However, the merits he
obtained were only minimal because at that time, there were no virtuous,
enlightened monks to receive them. If he had had the opportunity to just offer
even a simple meal to a sotapanna, the merits accrued would have far surpassed
the merits obtained from that luxurious dana of his. Again, the value of meritorious
actions increases in multiples of a hundred in direct proportion to the virtues of the
recipient, in ascending order from a sotapanna to a full-fledged arahant, a Pacceka
Buddha and from there to a Samma Sambuddha. Even greater than all these are
the merits accrued by a person who takes refuge in the Triple Gem in all its purity.
But one who undertakes and steadfastly upholds the Five Precepts obtains merits
that far surpasses what has been mentioned earlier. And even greater that this are
the merits accrued by one who radiates metta to all beings for a few seconds. The
greatest merits are obtained when one can observe, even mo-mentarily, the
arising and passing away of the Five Aggregates.
In Thailand, where Buddhism is deeply entrenched, there are people whose chosen
livelihoods leave much to be desired, for example, members of drug or vice
syndicates and people in the sex industry. However, being Bud-dhists, they know
about kamma vipaka and realise that they will reap whatever they have sown. In
order to counteract the demerits of such unmeritorious lifestyles, they are usually
very generous and do a lot of dana, donating a lot to build temples and schools. In
their future rebirths, they may be reborn as animals in luxurious surroundings such
as pampered pets of rich people. Even in SBS, we have three cats, which are quite
pampered and will only eat fish and not plain rice! In some homes, people rear
arowana, an expensive breed of fish, which thrives on a good diet. However these
animals have no freedom and are caged. It is thus a good practice not to keep
caged animals in our houses such as birds in cages or fishes in small aquariums so
that in our future lives, we will also be free.
Whenever we finish chanting the Three Refugees and the Five Precepts, the monks
normally say appamadena sampadetha. This means do not forget to fulfill
your vows/training, thus reminding devotees to continue to uphold in their daily
Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary... Groundwork for a Malaysian Therava... http://sasanarakkha.org/dhamma/2004/08/kamma-and-merits.shtml
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lives what they have chanted. There are people who are afraid to chant the Five
Precepts because they fear that they will break these precepts easily. They are
under the misconception that once a pre-cept is broken, a serious akusala deed has
been committed and that is the end of everything. In truth, we can always renew
our precepts as long as we are honest with ourselves about how serious we truly
are in keeping them pure.
Furthermore, for every second that you keep your precepts pure, you have
already achieved that second of good meritorious kamma. That is how
kamma works. If you have enough good supportive kamma, sometimes even
some non-weighty bad kamma can be nullified. Of course, if you have accumulated
some very weighty akusala kamma, there is no way out and you just have to bear
the consequences of that action. If you take the lives of others, you will have a
very short lifespan. If you torture others, you will be born sickly. Always keep in
mind that kamma does not act on its own accord. It is dependant on the conditions
present such as the environ-ment one is in, food, surroundings and also ones state
of mind. Keep your precepts well and you will be fine. SBS
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Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary... Groundwork for a Malaysian Therava... http://sasanarakkha.org/dhamma/2004/08/kamma-and-merits.shtml
3 of 3 03/05/2014 7.46